Register Now

In order to be able to post messages on the Fly Fishing Forum forums, you must first register.
Please enter your desired user name, your email address and other required details in the form below.

User Name:

Password

Please enter a password for your user account. Note that passwords are case-sensitive.

Password:

Confirm Password:

Email Address

Please enter a valid email address for yourself.

Email Address:

Home Waters

Your home waters

Current Favorite Fly

If you only had one... (change anytime)

Log-in

User Name

Remember Me?

Password

Human Verification

In order to verify that you are a human and not a spam bot, please enter the answer into the following box below based on the instructions contained in the graphic.

Additional Options

Miscellaneous Options

Automatically parse links in text

Automatically embed media (requires automatic parsing of links in text to be on).

Rate Thread

If you like, you can add a score for this thread.

Topic Review (Newest First)

09-06-2003 10:40 PM

flytyer

Dave,

Trey Combs "Steelhead Fly Fishing" has several spiders in it as well as some historical info on the use of them for steelhead.

09-06-2003 06:36 PM

Dave Drennan

Flytyer...

... Thanks a bunch - I'll work on the Spiders. Seem to remember seeing Spiders in Judith Dunham's calendar back in the mid-90's.

09-06-2003 12:26 AM

flytyer

Dave,

Yes, that is one of many books I have in my library. It is also one of the best of the recent books on flies for salmon and steelhead in my opinion.

No, I am not a left-handed tyer. I simply scanned the Night Dancer Shrimp's left side because a well-tied fly will look the same from either side and wanted to show this aspect of tying to others.

Spiders are a style of tying that usually leave out wings, tails, and body hackle. They are almost always tied as low-water flies and the distinctive features of a Spider is the long hackle tied as a collar (it should be as long as the bend of the hook, or very close to that long). Aleck Jackson's "Psuedo-Spey" is actually a spider style fly (Alec knows this' but he chose to call it a pseudo-spey because more fisherman know what a spey fly is than what a salmon or steelhead spider is), and as such would give you a good idea of what they look like.

I use spider style flies during the very low water of late August to October here in Washington state. Here is an example of one of my favorites.

... I would like to know more about the spider patterns. I have a friend in Dublin, that I'm way late with some flies, who knows about the Spiders. I have O'Reilly's and Malone's books but did not notice much about the Spiders. Maybe you can shed some light? Do you have "Shrimp and Spey Flies for Salmon? Are you a left handed tier?

09-05-2003 10:42 PM

flytyer

Dave,

Glad to hear there are others here in North America that are using Irish Shrimp Style flies. They have that same three-dimensional look that spey, dee, and spiders have in the water. Or as Alec Jackson would say, "They have the illusion of bulk".

09-05-2003 08:27 AM

Dave Drennan

I tied up ....

... a Juner Shrimp on an Alec Jackson #1.5 hook and fished it in the Dean in June. Seventh cast - big chinookie - don't know how big 'cause the Albright knot from backing to WindCutter came undone - lost the fish, the line and the fly! In the words of that famous American philosipher, H. Simpson, "D'oh!"

08-15-2003 05:20 PM

sean

Thanks for the tip. Bought of bunch of the whiting silver grade capes over the winter and will give them a try tonight. We will see how they work this weekend.

-sean

08-15-2003 05:08 PM

flytyer

Sean,

The hackle (that goes for all 3 colors) is nothing more than Chinese Rooster Hackle for Hareline Dubbing. The Whiting American Hackle that became available last year has more feathers/cape that are of the same quality and size.

The secret to making hackle look like this is to tie it in by the tip and wind at least 5 turns at each hackle location. The fly pictured has 7 wraps of hackle at each location. By tying it in by the tip, it is easy to double the hackle as you wind it; thus, the hackle flows backward over the fly.

08-15-2003 05:02 PM

sean

Excellent pattern!

What are you using for the hackle? Looks much better than anything I use.

-sean

08-15-2003 04:56 PM

flytyer

BobK,

It is an excellent fly for steelhead! The largest size I use it in is the #5 Aleck Jackson Spey Hook, and the smallest size I use (for when the water is really low in late summer and early fall) is a #12 standard or light wire salmon iron.

08-15-2003 07:57 AM

BobK

Nice fly! Nice tie, too!

I'm going to have to tie some of these up! I think the fish will LOVE the colors - should be a good 'un!

BobK

08-14-2003 09:53 PM

flytyer

Night Dancer Shrimp

Here is a Night Dancer steelhead fly that I adapted to the Irish Shrimp style last year. It is a very effective summer and fall fly either in morning or late evening. This one is tied on an Alec Jackson Spey Hook, #5.